#Blackhole names series#
#Blackhole names zip#

Over billions of years, this process might enable a black hole to grow to millions times the mass of the Sun. But eventually, it will make it to the galaxy’s core (if it didn’t already start there) and continue to gorge on whatever material strays too close. In this scenario, the seed of the supermassive black hole continually merges and gobbles up more and more material, eventually getting so massive it “sinks” toward the center of its galaxy.Īlong the way, the black hole might join up with more stellar- and intermediate-mass black holes, growing even more massive. And that’s expected to be the case for supermassive black holes, too.Īlthough there are many theories about how this type of black hole forms, one of the most compelling is that they grow so large through a runaway chain reaction of colliding stars and black holes. Though conclusive proof of this type of black hole remains elusive, over the past few decades, there have been a number of studies that have uncovered intriguing evidence hinting at the existence of these not-so-big, not-so-small black holes.īlack holes tend to grow larger and larger through mergers.

#Blackhole names zip#

But eventually, they zip around each other faster and faster until finally coming together and forming a single, larger black hole.Īfter a number of consecutive mergers, researchers think, these mid-sized beasts can eventually grow from about 100 to around 1 million solar masses (though the dividing line between various classes of black holes is up for debate). Merging stellar-mass black holes spend a very long time in the early stages of their mating dance. These mergers frequently happen in crowded areas of galaxies.

#Blackhole names series#

Intermediate-mass black holes are thought to form when multiple stellar-mass black holes undergo a series of mergers with one another. This type of black hole is not too small, not too big. How do intermediate-mass black holes form?Īs the name implies, intermediate-mass black holes fall between stellar-mass black holes and supermassive black holes.

In fact, there is no mechanism that can prevent such a star from collapsing into a black hole.ĭepending on the initial size of the imploding star, the resulting stellar-mass black hole can reach up to about 100 or more times the mass of the Sun. Instead, the collapsing material will rebound off its core, causing it to erupt as a supernova.īut if the collapsing star is greater than about 20 times the mass of the Sun, its core isn’t strong enough to stop the implosion. If the imploding star is between about eight and 20 times the mass of the Sun, however, it won’t form a black hole.

The most well-understood black holes, stellar-mass black holes, form when a massive star reaches the end of its life and implodes, collapsing in on itself.